[Okfn-irl] ANNOUNCEMENT & MINUTES of Civil Society Forum meeting 11 February 2014

Wed Feb 12 20:25:32 UTC 2014

Nuala

Many thanks for this - the 25th February looks fine for me. If you could
give me a sense of the commitment required for the dper/civil society
planning committee I would like to volunteer for that.

Best wishes
Kevib
On 12 Feb 2014 16:52, "Nuala Haughey" <nhaughey at tasc.ie> wrote:

>  Dear all, please find the draft minutes of the civil society forum
> meeting last night. Key announcements are:
>
> 1.       We propose that the Civil Society Forum meets weekly on Tuesday
> evenings for the next 6-8 weeks while the Action Plan is taking shape.
>
> 2.       We hope to have an temporary administrator in place by next week.
>
> 3.       A DPER/Civil Society planning committee is being set up for the
> May EU OGP conference and civil society is invited to participate in this -
> i.e. we need more volunteers.
>
>
>
> *Draft Minutes Civil Society Forum meeting 11 February 2014 17.30-21.00*
>
> *Attendees: *Anne Colgan, Ingo Keck, Ivan Cooper (The Wheel), Antoin Ó
> Lachtnain (DRI) Denis Parfenov (Active Citizen/OKF Ireland), Edward
> Stephenson Nuala Haughey (TASC/TII)
>
>
>
> *Apologies:* Andrew Jackson (An Taisce), Flora Fleischer (OKF Ireland),
> Nat O'Connor (TASC), Mick Byrne
>
>
>
> Anne Colgan presented the notes and Action Points from the first meeting
> of the joint working group (JWG) established for Ireland's first OGP Action
> Plan. This meeting was held on 6th February in DPER's offices, from 11.30
> to 13.00. At that meeting it was agreed that the JWG would meet weekly on
> Wednesday afternoons /Thursday mornings and that it would try to alternate
> between government offices and civil society premises. The next meeting of
> the JWG is scheduled for 11.30-13.00 on 13th February in TASC's offices.
> The intention is to have a draft Action Plan ready by April 3rd, which
> means that there will be up to eight more meetings of the JWG.
>
> There was a general discussion on several Action Points arising from the
> meeting on 6th February. It was stressed that civil society needs a
> working method which would allow the JWG members to bring any substantive
> DPER proposals back to the CS Forum for discussion before they are agreed.
> This puts an onus on everyone in the CS Forum to read materials circulated
> after JWG meetings.
>
> In order to facilitate this back and forth, it was agreed that the CS
> Forum would meet weekly on Tuesday evenings and that a timetable for these
> meetings would be distributed through all existing mailing lists. It was
> also agreed that a priority for the CS Forum administrator when appointed
> would be to ensure that the ogpireland.ie website is kept up to date and
> that key documents, meetings and opportunities for input are clearly
> signposted. Another priority is to create a single mailing list to avoid
> cross-postings.
>
> The group noted that the Overview document distributed by DPER at the JWG
> meeting on 6th February identified some government initiatives that are
> relative to some of the 62 proposals generated during the summer 2013
> consultations with civil society. The document is helpful to the extent
> that it indicates the distance that has already been travelled in a number
> of areas, and will be factored into civil society's consideration of Action
> Plan proposals in the coming weeks.
>
> There was consensus on the need for a robust process to whittle down civil
> society's 62 AP proposals as the process moves forward, and that
> establishing a strong narrative and themes for the first NAP would help
> guide this process and assist us in determining the 'fit' and 'impact' of
> any proposed commitments. There was agreement that the priority themes
> identified in the report on the summer consultations would guide us. These
> relate to enabling citizen participation in decision-making; strengthening
> public accountability/effective democratic oversight; improving public
> services; economic and budgetary transparency; and using open data and
> better information flows as a means to ensure these ends.
>
> There was a discussion on whether and when to convene a larger civil
> society gathering to examine the 62 Action Plan proposals in the light of
> DPER's Overview document and any other DPER proposals which will be
> tabled.  Ivan Cooper said it was important that those with expertise on
> CS's 62 proposals read the Overview document in order to determine final
> Action Plan priorities. After some discussion on the best timing for such a
> meeting, it was agreed to aim for on or around Tuesday February 25th.  In
> relation to the format of the Action Plan, it was agreed that civil society
> would like to have the option of a civil society introduction and annex and
> also a 'next steps' section.
>
> The meeting agreed to seek expressions of interest from civil society for
> participating in a planning committee with DPER ahead of the EU OGP
> conference in Dublin castle on 8th/9th May 2014. Nuala briefed the
> meeting on the efforts to recruit a temporary administrator for the CS
> Forum - there was a strong interest in the position which was advertised on
> Activelink and through the various mailing lists.  Interviews will be held
> on Thursday 13th February with a view to filling the position as soon as
> possible.
>
>
>
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